The Virginia Grand Military Band has been presenting concerts in the Washington, D.C. area for nineteen years. Photo Contributed
The Virginia Grand Military Band has moved to the Rebecca S. Wilburn auditorium at Hayfield Secondary School in Alexandria. Members of the Virginia Grand Military Band are a veritable "who’s who" in the concert band world, and bring to each performance an artistry and professionalism which have earned them accolades and praise throughout the world. Many VGMB musicians are current or retired members of the premier U.S. military bands headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area. Other members are hand-selected wind and percussion musicians who travel from as far as Maine, New York, and Kentucky to perform with the 80-piece ensemble. The Virginia Grand Military Band has been presenting concerts in the Washington, D.C. area for nineteen years.
The band performs music for the "Classic Concert Band," both original and transcribed, which has stood the test of time and become part of the living history which is the American concert band. The music is a part of this living heritage and the interpretations are a result of over 20 years of research, study, and performance of this music by Virginia Grand Military Band conductor Loras John Schissel.
Schissel is the music director and conductor of both the Virginia Grand Military Band and the Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Festival Band, two of the finest bands of their type in the world. Schissel has traveled throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, conducting orchestras, bands, and choral ensembles in a broad range of musical styles and varied programs. As a composer and orchestrator, Schissel has created an extensive catalogue of over 400 works for orchestra, symphonic wind band, and jazz ensemble. His musical score for the PBS special, Bill Moyers: America’s First River, The Hudson, televised in 2002, received extensive coverage and acclaim. Schissel has appeared in the PBS documentary "If You Knew Sousa" for the American Experience series, as well as Ben Wattenberg’s Think Tank. He continues to serve as commentator on the Voice of America and for the U.S. Information Service. Schissel is a senior musicologist at the Library of Congress and a leading authority on the music of Percy Aldridge Grainger, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, and former Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Serge Koussevitzky.